Herman Cain and Why We Hate Politicians, Who Cheat

As it stands now, Herman Cain’s polling numbers have been falling. Yesterday, after the allegations of his affair spun its way through the news, he announced that he would “reassess” his bid for the White House.  And surprisingly, the allegations of sexual harassment, his 9-9-9 plan, his thoughts on Muslims, Mexicans and plantation Blacks wasn’t enough to turn off voters or his supporters within his own political party. No, it would be a consensual affair, allegedly, which would be the possible reason for his early exit from the race.  Proving once again how much we take great delight in all the scandalous falters from watching these public figures squirm over whether or not they had sexual relations with that woman, or women (or men).

And it’s not just a Black Republican thing: Bill Clinton, David Vitter, Anthony Wiener, Arnold Schwarzenegger and that low-down dirty dog John Edwards all had their personal sexual affairs scrutinized by the public. Because more than we hate a lying politician, we can’t stand a cheating man. In fact, we hate adulterous politicians more than we hate the ones that go to jail for embezzlement, the ones, who trample over our civil liberties and the 25 or so politicians, who have been embroiled in tax scandals over the past two decades. In a Utopia, or at least in a politically mature place, all of those offenses should be worthy of some sort of impeachment yet it is always the wandering eye, or penis, that does these men in.

Part of the reason is that politicians, as well as the general public, tend to elevate or exaggerate their moral stature, i.e. the conservative republican, who runs on a platform of family values. So when the realities of their marriages don’t jibe with their public personas, we feel that their moral hypocrisy ultimately is betrayal of our public trust. But I would be remised if I didn’t mention at the heart of our discontent is something a little more individual.  It is a proven fact that infidelity has been alive and well for many thousands of years before the media circus began to highlight the cheating politician. In fact, most of us have been cheated on and didn’t even have the political clout or the double digits in our Charles Schwab portfolios. The only difference is that we normally don’t get to inflict the type of torment on our own cheating partners that we can on high-profiled individuals. And that, my friends, is why we ultimately hate (but secretly love) the cheating politician.

Charing Ball is the author of the blog People, Places & Things.